Canada, Ukraine Meet on Parliament Hill

On April 12, 2010, Ihor Ostash, Ambassador of Ukraine to Canada, and the diplomatic staff of the Embassy of Ukraine in Canada met with members of the Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Group. More than 30 Members of Parliament and Senators took part in the meeting.

Ambassador Ostash highlighted achievements in Ukraine-Canada cooperation during recent years and informed Canadian MPs and Senators about the current relations and agenda of the Special Partnership between Ukraine and Canada. The Ambassador noted Canada’s aspirations to promote democratic processes in Ukraine, in particular, seen when Canada sent numerous election observers to monitor the 2010 Presidential Elections in Ukraine. He also thanked Senator Raynell Andreychuk, who was present, for her work as head of Canadem’s Election Observer Mission in Ukraine.

The Ambassador also made a proposal to celebrate 120 years since the first Ukrainians settled in Canada, jointly next year at an official state level. In this regard, Ihor Ostash noted the contribution that Ukrainians made to the development of Canada.

In the view of this gala celebration of the 120^th Anniversary of Ukrainian Settlement in Canada, the Ambassador introduced a cultural project, that of a Ukrainian immigrant train symbolically crossing the country from Halifax to Edmonton, travelling the route the first Ukrainians took upon arriving in Canada. Ihor Ostash proposed that outstanding Canadians - politicians, artists, performers etc. of Ukrainian heritage - as well as their counterparts from Ukraine, be invited to become passengers on the Ukraine-Canada Train that will stop where large Ukrainian communities live. The Canadian MPs and Senators in the parliamentary friendship group gladly supported this idea.

PHOTO

Ihor Ostash, Ambassador of Ukraine to Canada (fifth from right) and the members of Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Group